behind someone's back

Out of one's presence or without someone's knowledge, as in Joan has a nasty way of maligning her friends behind their backs. Sir Thomas Malory used this metaphoric term in Le Morte d'Arthur (c. 1470): "To say of me wrong or shame behind my back." [Early 1300s]

Do I ever tell my child that I don't like her unless she does what I want, or Do I think that talking badly behind someone's back or publicly teasing someone about their flaws is unacceptable, or Do I think that this is not really serious and does not really hurt anyone?

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